Dual Signal LED Strips

The IC of SK9822 and APA102 are different, but SK9822 can share the IC protocol of APA102 in most cases (it is not compatible with lower PWM frequency protocol).

What is the difference between APA102 and SK9822 addressable LED strip lights?

1. LED chip size: SK9822 LED chip size is 0.65 square millimeters, APA102 LED chip size is 1 square millimeters, SK9822 has a smaller chip space occupancy rate

2. Update type: SK9822 updates the PWM register in the first cycle after the next start frame, and APA102 updates the PWM register immediately after receiving the data; SK9822 updates the data at the same time, while APA102 criss-cross updates the data。

3. PWM update frequency: The update frequency of SK9822 is 4.7KHZ, and the update frequency of APA102 is 19KHZ. Therefore, the color delay effect of APA102 is shorter and the stroboscopic phenomenon is weakened.

4. Global brightness control: SK9822 uses a programmable controlled current source to set the global brightness. This is the opposite of APA102. If the global brightness is not set to the maximum value, APA102 will superimpose a lower frequency PWM mode (PWM below 440KHZ)

The price of SK9822 addressable LED strip is lower than that of APA102 addressable strip, so if you pay more attention to the price, SK9822 may be a good choice, but the PWM update frequency of APA102 addressable LED strip And the transmission speed is faster, so the color delay effect and stroboscopic phenomenon are less.

What is APA102 LED?

APA102 is a 6-pin output (SDI/SD0/CKI/CKO/VDD/GND) RGB tri-color LED dimming control serial IC, the built-in driver IC is packaged in SMD5050 assembly, using dual signal transmission design (clock line and data line), transmission speed up to 800KHZ, no specific timing, PWM refresh rate of 20KHZ can reduce flicker, with automatic signal detection function.

Serial data input from the SDI port is read into the data shift register inside the chip on the rising edge of the CKI clock port, and the input clock signal and LED grayscale control signal are output on the CKO and SDO side after shaping by the clock data regeneration circuit inside the chip, and the LED output color is updated immediately after the first valid LED frame, so the APA102 LED can achieve almost any update rate; at the same time, it can provide RGB LED output drive, 256 levels of grayscale adjustment output and 32 levels of brightness adjustment, stable data output, and synchronous signal update.

How to control APA102 addressable LED strip lights?

APA102 addressable LED strip, support DC5V low voltage input, single LED cuttable, individually addressable. LED strip can achieve ultra-narrow, high density or single white color, work with Dream Color LED controller or Raspberrypi/Arduino UNO development board can achieve addressable strip color, mode, control mode of dynamic adjustment. Meanwhile, we can customize the length, waterproof level and different color temperature of LED strip for you.

APA102 vs SK9822 vs APA107 vs HD107s vs HD108

What is the difference between APA107, HD107s, APA102, and SK9822 led strips?

APA102: 20+ kHz PWM, transmission rate 20MHZ

APA107: 9 kHz PWM, transmission rate 30MHZ

HD107s: 26+ kHz PWM (the upgrade of APA107), transmission rate 40MHZ

SK9822: 4.7 kHz PWM, transmission rate 15MHZ

In conclusion, APA107/HD107s  is one real product that can replace APA102.

PWM (digital-to-analog conversion) converts digital signals into analog signals and accepts the control of the controller. The faster the PWM transmission speed, the faster the PWM register update speed, the shorter the color delay effect, and almost no flicker.

The data transmission speed is related to the LED lighting time. The faster the data transmission speed, the shorter the time from the first LED to the last LED lighting.

SK9822 vs APA102 vs APA107 vs HD107 vs HD107s vs HD108

What is WS2801 addressable LED strip light?

WS2801 is a 3-channel (OUTR/OUTG/OUTB) constant current LED driver, each channel can achieve independent 256-level PWM gray control, output up to 200mA constant LED drive current. WS2801 LED chip contains series shift register, data latch, output register, bandgap reference voltage source, internal oscillator and programmable constant current driver. 

The serial data input from the SDI data is read into the data shift register inside the chip at the rising edge of the CKI port clock signal, the input clock signal and LED gray scale control signal is shaped by the clock data regeneration circuit inside the chip Output at the CKO and SDO terminals, the input and output signals of each chip realize the normal operation of the entire LED strip. 

When the POL port input 0, the polarity is reversed, WS2801 works as a PWM controller, which can drive external switches or circuits to drive high brightness LEDs and achieve 256 levels of grayscale control of high-power LEDs, with fast speed, high reliability, and synchronous refresh of grayscale data, etc. It is suitable for low-cost, cascadable LED decorative lighting systems.

What is LPD8806 addressable LED strip light?

LPD8806 LED supports DC5V low voltage input, a single IC controls 2 LEDs, 2LEDs cuttable, high scanning frequency (>4000HZ), 8806 is a new generation driver chip designed for LED lighting systems, it uses advanced industrial-grade CMOS technology (NMOS The integrated circuit made by the device and the PMOS device) provides multiple constant current drives and grayscale modulation output, which is especially suitable for discrete multi-grayscale full-colour lighting systems.

Unique data clock regeneration mechanism, super signal drive capability, support cascade length over 2000 points; built-in 1.2M oscillator circuit, support FREE-RUN mode, easy to program and design the controller; each channel is built-in independent 256-level PWM The gray-scale control circuit can achieve 1024-level gray-scale effect through programming.

The LPD chip includes a serial shift register and a cascade drive circuit. The gray data is shifted into the serial shift register on the upper edge of the clock, after dumping, it is converted to a multi-port parallel output by pulse width modulation. The serial shift register and the gray and the degree counter can be controlled by different clock signals,while the data and control signals are output to the next level circuit after a strong internal drive.

How does LPD6803 addressable led strip light work?

LPD6803 is a 3-channel constant current driver IC with internal serial shift registers and cascaded driver circuits, using advanced high-voltage CMOS technology to achieve 256-level grayscale adjustment and output 16 million dynamic color chasing effects, which suitable for industrial lighting.

The DIN/DCLK port of LED strip inputs the serial data output by the SPI LED controller, and the data is shifted into the serial shift register on the upper edge of the clock. After dumping, it is converted to 3-port parallel output by pulse width modulation, serial shift register and the gray-scale counter can be controlled by different clock signals. LPD6803 drives the data and control signals internally and then outputs them to the next-level circuit, the data clock signal passes through the built-in phase-locked regeneration circuit and is strongly driven to provide the next-level chip to improve the cascade level. number, the maximum current of a single channel is 45mA,  supports DC12V input voltage.